Elon Musk livestreamed his chat with a leader of Germany’s far-right party, using the power of his social media platform, X, to amplify the party’s message ahead of an upcoming national election.

Summary

Elon Musk livestreamed a conversation with Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, on his platform X, endorsing her and urging support for the AfD ahead of Germany’s February 23 election.

The livestream, which drew over 200,000 viewers, raised concerns across Europe about Musk’s influence in foreign politics.

AfD, under observation for extremism, has gained popularity amid discontent with Chancellor Scholz’s government.

Musk’s promotion of Weidel and controversial remarks on other European issues are being monitored for violations of the EU’s Digital Services Act.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    1·
    12 hours ago

    Getting rid of a platform who’s owner is trying to influence your elections even though he isn’t even a citizen is not “willy nilly” by any means.

    • froh42@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      10 hours ago

      I personally absolutely agree of getting rid of that shit. I just said there are big hurdles, and you need to do so in a very organized and based on proof way.

      You can’t just outlaw them because you don’t like them, that doesn’t work. Germany having laws against hate speech doesn’t mean there’s not also a law about freedom of expression in the Grundgesetz.

      You need to prove them to be against democracy in a watertight way. That’s what I mean with not willy-nilly.

      Or as I read it once: Democracy implicitly protects its enemies.